JinSC wrote:
[...] If I’m not mistaken (and here is where I’m sure someone will correct me) the issue is really about DRM. What people seem to fail to understand is that what you have done when you buy an NC is you have bought a platform that enables your to then buy access to books. You don’t actually buy the books, per se. What you buy is the right to have digital access to a book via proprietary software owned by B&N.
Welcome to the discussion, Jeremy. I won't bite your head off, promise! This is just a conversation in normal tones among customers with differing opinions, so far as I'm concerned. This isn't warfare.
You definitely buy the hardware. The hardware, out of the box, runs software that can provide you that access -- the lease, as it were -- to books, as well as other software. The 3rd party software issue is only partially about ebook readers and DRM. There are other simple apps that have nothing to do with reading or DRM that are part of the overall "access to 3rd party apps" discussion. However, this specific topic started on the topic of readers, so I'll stick to those.
That proprietary software keeps you from selling digital copies to whomever you please. And, it is not just B&N’s attempt to lock you into buying from them, but it is also part of their agreement with the publishers. B&N has to have some way to maintain control over the digital rights or access to the "books."
B&N is not the only company doing DRM. It's part of doing business in ebooks these days. Adobe's Digital Editions (ADE) are a similar scheme used by other products. They do work a bit differently:
1. B&N's "social" DRM is arguably the more flexible and consumer friendly of the two. By entering your name and credit card info, you can "unlock" the book under the terms of the license you purchased under. You can even give that same file to others and, so long as you are OK entering your name and CC# on their device, they can read it.
2. ADE locks the file to the device. You must register each device you read on with Adobe, and up to a maximum of 6 devices can be associated with your account, I believe. The ebook file is locked to that account, and only devices authorized (registered) to that account can read the file. It is much more rigid.
You are correct that B&N's DRM exists because some ebook publishers insist on some sort of DRM. The music industry went through these very same gyrations a number of years ago, with legitimate users being limited in how they could use music they'd paid for (rather, purchased a license for), while those less worried about legality found ways around the DRM and shared files at will. DRM only inconvenienced legitimate, paying customers. Most of the music industry has abandoned DRM and instead count on users playing by the rules, with legal consequences for those that do not.
When you talk of a third party reader app, as did the OP, that app would have to have the "key" to unlock B&N’s "vault" to see which books you have access to and provide you with those books. I’m sure that B&N doesn’t want to give away this "key." Nor, do I think, they can given their contracts with publishers.
3rd party apps can read both ADE and B&N's DRM. B&N devices are not the only ones that can read B&N titles, although not all 3rd party reader apps can deal with the DRM. Where you're mistaken is that the user needs the "keys to B&N's vault." They don't. The reader needs to support whichever DRM scheme is used, and many do. The "keys" are the info used to encrypt the file, the CC name and number for B&N's DRM.
Also, think about it. If you had a third party app on your NC that would let you read other books, but not have access to your B&N books, what would you do? That’s right you’d be complaining about not being able to read all of your stuff via the same app. These complaints would be even LOUDER if the third party app were inherently better or more appealing to the reader. Why would B&N want to invite that headache? They show you up front what you are going to get with the NC, and if you buy it, then that is what you have.
The answer to "why" B&N would want to is that you paid B&N for the rights to read that book. B&N made their cut. B&N thrives from numbers of people that buy ebooks through them. Happy users buy more ebooks. Making the customer happy should be their focus. Why should B&N care what reader I use if I buy the book from them?
Keep in mind, other 3rd party readers can read B&N's DRM. Otherwise, B&N would have to answer questions about peoples' entire library only being accessible so long as B&N exists. This is not an unfounded concern. In the dark days of music DRM, users lost their library when the "store" they purchased through went under or changed models. This can happen with other kinds of DRM for other reasons.
[...] Yes, as B&N has an obligation to fix the NC. But folks, we bought it as is. Actually, it was worse as the updates have given us some improvements.
A number of folks might argue as to whether B&N have lived up to this obligation. The reader is not flawless. What bothers me more is that it doesn't treat all ebooks the same. Those bought from B&N show with nice summaries, covers and other metadata. Others don't. So if I'm playing along and buying into the B&N world, do I have to throw away my existing investment in ebooks to get a uniform experience? It seems to me B&N not only wants to control how I use my device, but also to pressure me to buy every book from them.
